Antiaircraft target



Oct. 4, 1949. 5, -[E 2,483,402

ANTIAIRCRAFT TARGET Filed Dec. 12, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR mm s. cormv BY YMWQM ATTORNEY Get. 4, 1949. s. COTTEN AN'iIAIRCRAFT TARGET 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 12,: 1944 INVENTOR LEWIS 5. 00mm m I BY ATTORNEY 1.. s. COTTEN ANTiAIRCRAFT TARGET 4 Shets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 12, 1944 4+5 Rwm mm fr S BY )flm ATTORNEY Get. 4, 1949. L. s. COTTEN AN'LIAIRCRAFT TARGET 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 12, 1944 INVENTOR LEWIS 8. COTTE N 6 ATTORNEY a n it.

Patented Oct. 4, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) 4 Claims.

This invention relates to an anti-aircraft target and has for an object to provide a target adapted to simulate the dive bombing tactics of an airplane so that anti-aircraft gunners may shoot at the target in order to improve their gunnery and enable them to make a better defense against enemy aircraft in the act of dive bombing.

A further object of this invention is to provide a dive bomber simulating target which is comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and assemble and which may be released by a friendly aircraft so as to afford target practice to antiaircraft gunners while the friendly aircraft has time to get out of range of the guns before the target is fired upon. It is quite customary for target practice to be provided to anti-aircraft gunners by means of a target sleeve towed behind a friendly aircraft, but such a sleeve provides a target simulating level flight and previous to this invention there has been no satisfactory target for simulating the action of a dive bomber approaching a defended area. The sleeve target cannot be used for such purpose because if the friendly aircraft were to attempt to tow the sleeve in a dive, the friendly aircraft would be in the line of fire between the guns and the target, making it impossible to practice on such a towed sleeve target. With this invention, however, a diving target is provided which may be released from the friendly aircraft and dive toward the defended area while the friendly aircraft leaves the target area in safety.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an anti-aircraft target which is comparatively inexpensive so that there is not much expense when the target is hit and destroyed, but which, if not hit and destroyed, may be recovered and used over and over again until it is destroyed by a hit.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and illustrated in the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the target of this invention in gliding position.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective View of the wing releasing operating details.

Fig. 6 is a sectional fragmentary view showing the wing timing mechanism, and.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line l! of Fig. 3.

There is shown at [0 the anti-aircraft target of this invention which is adapted to be carried by the external bomb rack II of an airplane l2 for launching inthe target practice area.

This target 10 includes a fuselage [3 provided with a fixed tail means consisting of a fixed rudder it and a fixed elevator "5 having bracing wires l6. Pivotally secured within the fuselage I3 by means of pivot bolts l8 are retractable wings 2i] adapted to be held in retracted, position in the slots 2| in the sides of the fuselage l3 while the target is being carried and during the first fifteen to twenty seconds after the target is released, and then the wings 20 are automatically moved by the timing mechanism of this invention from the retracted position shown in Figs. 2 and 3 to the extended gliding position shown in Fig. 1.

When carried by the aircraft [2, the target In is normally in what might be considered the upside down position, in as much as both the tail rudder l4 and the wings 20 point downwardly rather than upwardly as in the normal appear ance of an aircraft. In this position the fuselage I3 is secured to the aircraft bomb rack H by means of a rigid metal strap 22 pivoted On a staple 23 secured through the bottom of fuselage E3. The other end of the strap 22 is provided with a hitch ring 24 by means of which it is held by a releasing hook 25 in the bomb rack ll of the aircraft l2.

Secured to the bomb rack l I are the customary bomb carrying sway braces 26 and 21 of a length and size suitable for carrying the target [0. The sway braces 25 and 21 are secured at 28 in the bomb rack H in the customary manner and at their other ends are provided with the usual sway preventing fingers 30 which are adapted to fit up against the target fuselage l3, the fuselage being provided with chuck blocks 3! and 32 00- operating with the fingers 30. As will be apparent, when the hook 25 is operated in the customary manner from within the aircraft l2, it will release the hitch ring 24 of the metal strap 22, thereby enabling the target ID to fall away from the aircraft I2.

The nose end of the target It! may be weighted if desired, and in any case, the negative angle of incidence of the wings 20 even though retracted and the tail surfaces of the rudder l4 and elevator |5 will cause the target to assume a diving position of probably about 80, thereby taking it quickly away from the path of the aircraft l2 while the target l3 dives downwardly enabling the gunners to practice shooting thereat. As the target dives in an earthward direction, it attains an approximate speed of about 209 knots until the Wings 20 are released from the retracted position of Fig. 2 to the gliding position of Fig. 1, causing the target to pull out of the dive and glide toward the earth.

The wings are released from the retracted to the gliding position by means of the'timing mechanism shown generally in Fig. 6, operating the wing releasing mechanism shown generally in Figs. 4 and 5. A coil spring 33 is anchored at one end 34 adjacent the nose of the target fuselage IS, the other end of the spring 33 being anchored at 36 to the metal strap 22. Secured at 3? to the other side of the strap 22 is a timing wire 38 which passes through a guide loop 40 and terminates at the end M of one arm 12 of a bell crank '33 pivoted at Mi to the fixed elevator I5.

When the target is is being carried by the aircraft I2, the spring 33 and the timing wire 32 both pass under the fingers 3! of their sway braces 26 and 21. But this is immaterial due to the yielding fabric 39 ofwhich the fuselage l3 is constructed, it being observed from Fig. 7 that the fabric 39 is placed about a series of longeron-s 49 suitably curved to thereby provide the fuselage. Obviously as soon as the target is released. the coil spring 33 pulls the supporting strap 22 about its staple 23 toward the nose of the target and simultaneously pulls the timing wire 33 causing the bell crank to rotate about its pivot M.

Secured to the other arm 45 of bell crank 43 is a timing pin 45 whose end is pulled out from a transverse hole Al in the timing rod t8. When the wings are held in retracted position, the wing holding and releasing mechanism is in the position shown in Fig. 4 with the timing rod 45 extended through a hole 55 in a plate 5|. This plate 5| is provided with a guide slot 52 enabling the plate 5| to slide vertically within the limits permitted by a guide pin 53 and a finger pivot 54 extending through the guide slot 52 and anchored in an H plate 55 secured at 55 to a bracket 5l| mounted on the tail elevator 55; the bracket 5'! and H plate 55 being provided with suitable aligned holes permitting the timing red as to extend therethrough and through the hole 51? of the plate 5| when it is in the position shown in Fig. 4.

The wings 2! are each provided with two tensioncoils 58 and tension straps ti} secured at one end to anchoring pins 6| in the wings 20 and at their other ends to anchor pins 62 near the nose of the fuselage |3. These springs tend to swing the wings 29 about their pivot bolts is from the retracted position within the fuselage slots 2| of Fig. 2 to the extended position shown in Fig. 1. When the wings 28 are moved to the advanced position, spring held pawls 59 latch to the hooks 53 secured to the sides of fuselage l3 and assist the coils 5;; in holding the wings 25 in the extended position.

The wings 29 are held in the retracted position,

before the timing mechanism is operated, by

means of loops 5 secured to the rear edges of the wings 25, which loops 54 cooperate with hooks 55 having pivoting slots 56 for pivotallysecuring them by means of pivots 5'! to the bottom of the H plate 55. After the hook ends 59 of hooks 65 are passed through the loops 64, they are passed over the bifurcated ends 63 of fingers it pivoted on the finger pivot 5 and pulled by springs H, whose other ends are anchored to the top end c1 -2 plate 55. The other ends of hooks 65 termin-ts in toes 72 which are adapted to abut the bottom of bosses F3 on the slide plate 5|.

With this wing holding and releasing mechanism in the position shown in Fig. 4, the fingers 'illtend to hold the hooks 55 so that the hook toes E2 press against the slide plate bosses i3. With the timing rod 38 in position through the slide plate aperture 58 and held there by the timing pin 45, the guide plate 5| cannot move and the hooks 65 are thus held against movement along their slots 55 and about their pivots 61, thus holding the Wings 25 in retracted position in spite of the tension of the coils 53. When the timing rod i8 is withdrawn from the slide plate hole 50, the slide plate 5! is free to move and the tension of the springs H, assisted by the tension of thecoils 58, causes the hooks 55 to rotate and slide about their pivots 5? Withdrawing the hook ends 53 from he loops B4 and releasing the wings for movement to'their extended position.

The timing rod-48 extends through the fuselage l3 and into a timing cylinder M extending through the nose of the fuselage I3. The cylinder U5 is provided with a cap 15 at one end through which the timing rod 48 extends. Cap 75 provides a base for a coil spring 16 tending to force a gland or plunger secured to the front end of rod 48 toward the nose end of cylinder it. The noseend of cylinder T is closed by means of a cap 19 provided with a vent l8 and a vent adjusting screw 8|] exterior of the nose. By rotating the screw 80, the size of the vent 13 may be adjusted, thereby determining the time that it takes for air within the cylinder i i between the gland T! and cap 19 to escape and thus timing the movement of the timing rod 48 and enabling such timing to be adjusted as desired. The screw 88 is normally adjusted so that .ittakes about fifteen to twenty seconds for the tip end 3| of timing rod 48 to be withdrawn from the hole 53 of slide plate 5|. When the timing rod tip end BI is withdrawn from hole 50, the slide plate 5| is free to move, thus releasing hook 65 from the wing loops 29 and releasing the wings for movement to their extended position.

In operation, the timing mechanism must be set before the target lfl can' be attached to the aircraft |2, preferably within a short while before. To set the'timing mechanism the wings may be held'in retracted position by'a safety cable tied' around the wings and fuselage. The timing rod 48 has its tip end 8| extended through the slide plate hole 50 and a, wire is extended through the timing rod hole 41. By means of a stop watch, the screw 8!! is adjusted until it takes the proper time, usually between fifteen and twenty seconds, for the timing rod end to be withdrawn from the sliding plate 5|. After thescrew as has thus been properly set, the timing pin :25 is placed through the timing rod hole l! and the hooks 55 are placed through the loop 66 and against fingers 1D with the strap 22 held in the normal position shown in Fig. 2, in which position it is secured to the bombing hook rack 25 holding the target it against the sway braces 26 and-2'! and the safety cable is removed. I

On completing his run at the target area, the

pilot releases the hook 25, thereby dropping the 22 is pulled forward by the coil spring causing the timing Wire 38 to rotate the bell crank '53 and withdraw timing pin 46, allowing timing rod 48 to be slowly moved forward by cylinder spring 16 against the air compressed within the cylinder by the gland Ti and which is escaping through the vent l8. r 7

At the end of about fifteen to twenty seconds, the tip end 8| will move out of slide plate hole 50, whereupon the slide plate 5| is free to move and the bosses 13 will cease to hold the hook toes l2, permitting fingers and the tension of the wing coils 58 to pivot the hooks 65 and withdraw them from the wing loops 64. Until this moment, the target will have been in a dive of about 80 at about 200 knots. When the wings 2B are thus released they are snapped forward until pawls 62 engage hooks 63 assisting the coils 58 in holding the wings in extended position. With the wings 20 in extended position the target iii, if

still undestroyed by the gunners shooting at it, will glide out of the dive to a somewhat horizontal position and gradually glide to the ground where it may be recovered and used over and over again until it is finally destroyed by a hit from one of the guns.

Other modifications and changes in the num ber and arrangement of the parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the nature of the invention, within the scope of what is hereinafter claimed.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

What is claimed is:

1. An anti-aircraft dive bomber simulating target comprising an aircraft simulating fuselage and tail means, wing members pivoted to said fuselage for movement between a retracted position along said fuselage for diving and an eX- tended position for gliding, means movably attached to said target and adapted for releasably attaching said target to a launching aircraft, means normally urging said pivoted wing members to the extended gliding position, releasable means holding said wing members in the retracted diving position, a timing mechanism connected to said releasable holding means for releasing said means upon expiration of a predetermined time interval, means connecting said movable target attaching means and said timing mechanism for initiating operation of said timing mechanism upon movement of said target attaching means, and means connected to said target attaching means to move the same upon release of said target from the aircraft.

2. An anti-aircraft dive bomber simulating target comprising an aircraft simulating fuselage and tail means, wing members pivoted to said fuselage for movement between a retracted position along said fuselage for diving and an extended position for gliding, strap means pivoted on said target and adapted for releasably attaching said target to a launching aircraft, means normally urging said pivoted wing members to the extended gliding position, spring means for swinging said pivoted strap means upon detachment from the aircraft, releasable means holding said wing members in the retracted diving position, a timing mechanism connected to said releasable holding means for releasing said means upon expiration of a predetermined time interval, means connecting said pivoted strap and said timing mechanism for initiatmg operation of said timing mechanism upon movement of said pivoted strap, and means connected'to said pivoted strap to move the same upon release of said target from the aircraft.

3. An anti-aircraft dive bomber simulating target comprising an aircraft simulating fuselage and tail means, wing members pivoted to said fuselage for movement between a retracted position along said fuselage for diving and an extended position for gliding, means attached to said target and adapted for releasably attaching said target to a launching aircraft, said target attaching means comprising a supporting strap pivotally secured to said target fuselage, said pivoted strap being adapted to be disposed substantially normal to said target fuselage when in supporting position, spring means for swinging said strap about its pivot upon detachment from the aircraft, means normally urging said pivoted Wing members to the extended gliding position,

releasable means holding said wing members in the retracted diving position, a timing mechanism connected to said releasable holding means for releasing said means upon expiration of a predetermined time interval, means connecting said pivoted strap and said timing mechanism for initiating operation of said timing mechanism upon movement of said pivoted strap, and means connected to said pivoted strap to move the same upon release of the target from the aircraft.

4.. An anti-aircraft dive bomber simulating target comprising an aircraft simulating fuselage and tail means, wing members pivoted to said fuselage for movement between a retracted position along said fuselage for diving and an extended position for gliding, strap means pivoted on said target and adapted for releasably attaching said target to a launching aircraft, means normally urging said pivoted wing members to the extended gliding position, spring means for swinging said pivoted strap means upon detachment from the aircraft, releasable means holding said wing members in the retracted diving position, a, timing mechanism connected to said releasable holding means for releasing said means upon expiration of a predetermined time interval, means connecting said pivoted strap and said timing mechanism for initiating operation of said timing mechanism upon movement of said pivoted strap, and means connected to said pivoted strap to move the same upon release of said target from the aircraft, said releasable holding means including hooks pivotally mounted on said target for engaging the wings in retracted position, and a slide plate for retaining said hooks in engaged position, said timing mechanism comprising a timing rod for engaging said slide plate, a timing cylinder receiving said rod and having a vent adjusting screw, a plunger on the end of said rod within said cylinder, a spring within said cylinder urging said plunger and rod toward a position of disengagement with said slide plate, said means connecting said pivoted attaching strap and said timing mechanism comprising a wire and connections including a pin extending through a hole in said timing rod and releasably retaining said timing rod against withdrawal from said slide plate, said slide plate being moved and said hooks being released from the outwardly urged wings upon disengagement of said timing rod from said slide plate.

LEWIS STEVENS COTTEN.

(References on following page) REFERENCES CITED fig g I-heioliowing references are of record in the 119031303- file of this patent: 2,011,25 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 2,339,511

Number Name Date 1339188 Frecska. May 19 Number 1,590,880 Broquist June 29, 1926 1 ,712

Name Date Roche Oct. 28, 1930 Tiling Apr. 4, 1933 Nightingale Aug. 13, 1935 Gurney Jan. 11', 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Jan. 23. 1937 

